627 people died in fires in Belarus last year, including 14 children

January 25, MINSK. Last year, 627 people died in fires in Belarus, including 14 children. This was reported to BelTA in the information and public relations department of the Investigative Committee.

Among the main reasons are careless handling of fire, including when smoking, malfunction of electrical equipment, violation of fire safety rules during the operation of stoves and household appliances, pranks of children with fire. More than half of the fires with deaths occurred due to careless handling of fire while smoking, while the dead were intoxicated .

One of the tragedies that claimed 4 lives at once occurred in Smorgon, Grodno region. On the night of January 22, a message was received that a residential building was on fire along Krasnoarmeyskaya Street in the regional center. Before rescuers arrived, a local resident was able to carry an unconscious woman out of the burning house. The victim has been hospitalized and is in critical condition.

When the fire was extinguished, the bodies of 4 people were found in the house: a 37-year-old woman and three men (36, 37 and 38 years old). The victims abused ALCOHOL and smoked in the house.

At the scene of the incident, the investigative-operational group worked for almost a day. An inspection was carried out, neighbors and relatives of the dead were interrogated, a number of expert studies were assigned, the production of which was entrusted to specialists of the UGKSE in the Grodno region. The preliminary cause of the incident is careless handling of fire while smoking. The source of ignition is the bed of the owner of the house. The Smorgon regional department of the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case under Part 3 of Art. 304 (violation of fire safety requirements, negligently resulting in the death of people) of the Criminal Code.

The UK also noted that children die in fire most often due to the carelessness of their parents. In particular, this is leaving babies unattended, lack of due attention to instilling safe behavior in children, ignoring threats to the life and HEALTH of children.

The Investigation Department of the USC for the Minsk region is investigating a criminal case on violation of fire safety requirements, which negligently resulted in the death of people. So, on the evening of October 9, a message was received about a fire in one of the apartments in the regional center. While extinguishing the fire, emergency workers found a 37-year-old woman and two children in an unconscious state: a 7-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy. They were hospitalized, but the babies could not be saved. The woman died in the hospital two weeks later. Only the 37-year-old HEAD of the family and the 6-year-old sister of the dead children were able to leave the burning apartment on their own. Their lives are not in danger.

Investigators found that the day before the parents drank alcohol and fell asleep. At this time, the children played with a lighter. The criminal investigation is ongoing.

The Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Emergency Situations once again remind you of the need to comply with fire safety rules: it is unacceptable to carelessly handle fire while smoking, as well as smoking in bed, do not leave electrical appliances unattended, do not use home-made extension cords and electrical appliances, follow the rules for operating the stove equipment, take care of safety by installing autonomous fire detectors at home, do not leave children unattended and keep flammable items out of their reach.